FLANDREAU, S.D. – One of two consultants who worked with a Native American tribe on its plans to open the nation's first marijuana resort has pleaded guilty to a drug offense in South Dakota.
Jonathan Hunt is the cultivation expert who oversaw the first marijuana crop of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe. He entered his plea to a drug conspiracy count for his role in the planned resort on Monday in Flandreau.
The state's top prosecutor filed drug-related charges Aug. 3 against Hunt and Eric Hagen, CEO of the Colorado-based consulting firm Monarch America, months after tribal leaders destroyed the marijuana crop over fears of a federal raid.
Court documents show the 43-year-old Hunt, of Denver, ordered marijuana seeds from a Dutch company that were shipped surreptitiously to the tribe's office in 2015.
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